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2018 Honda Accord Sport 2.0T - 6MT - Still Night Pearl - THE Ultimate Family Sedan

53K views 92 replies 27 participants last post by  559AccordCT2 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Intro:
I wanted to create a thread to track the progress of my car, with descriptions and pictures, in case anyone else was thinking of doing similar changes to their car. I've been enjoying working on it, and it's been quite addicting (and easy for the most part). I bought the car with the intentions of adding most of the accessories Honda offers myself to save on cost. I plan to do a tune, and some other mechanical upgrades. Not sure how crazy I'll go as I was planning it to be a sleeper, and I have 2 kids so it needs to remain kid friendly. It becomes less of a sleeper as I think of more things to do, and peruse the forums to see what others have come up with.

I did about 4 weeks of research before deciding on the Accord, but ultimately decided I wanted to go back to a MT, and Honda was the only affordable luxury option I could find. It didn't hurt that they just did a reboot on the model, which attracted me further to my conclusion.

Car History:
Prior to this, I owned a 2013 Nissan Maxima SV which came with a CVT only. It was a boring drive, and the only thing that attracted me to it was all the luxury features I missed in my previous car. I knew I made a mistake after about a year or 2 of driving it. It was also a used car for a year prior to my purchase, and I never had an emotional attachment like my previous car. I owned it for about 4 years.

Prior to the Maxima, I bought a brand new 2006 Subaru STI. I LOVED this car. It was my first brand new car, it was a blast to drive, it was the fastest thing I've driven to date, and couldn't believe I actually owned it when I got it home. I owned it for 8 years (sold in 2014 when I moved from NJ to TX). I did a bit of work to it (Turboback exhaust, AccessPort tuned, intake, full sound system, tint). I bought it with 5 miles on it, and sold it with 70K. Never had any issues, and it survived NJ winters with no garage. It was the perfect car prior to kids for me.

I sort of regretted selling it, but at the time, I wanted something bigger (full size), and something with more luxury amenities (I didn't even have heated seats). I flirted with the idea of buying a used BMW 550, and even test drove a few that were MT, but ultimately didn't buy one due to the move. Thank god I dodged that bullet, I'm not sure what I was thinking financially.

And to wrap up my history, I had a 2002 Acura RSX-S I enjoyed very much prior to the Subaru, a 1998 (i think) Mitsu Eclipse that was a money pit due to being young and dumb, 1989 Chevy Silverado that was handed down to me from my grandfather, with a few Geo Trackers mixed in as winter vehicles during the Eclipse/RSX days. So this Accord is my first Honda experience, if you don't count the Acura.

Back to the good stuff:
Anyway, I ended up purchasing this Accord on November 10th, 2018 (2 days prior to my daughter's birth). I drove 100 miles from my home because of the dealer I worked with was the only one that would budge on their price. I negotiated the price and ultimately got the car for $29K even out the door (I paid $800 less than that due to my trade in/tax break, so really $28.2K out of pocket). This didn't include any upgrades or accessories. The only thing the dealer did was fill the tires with Nitrogen. I didn't want them to tint it since I'd do that myself and I wanted better tint than they would've offered at a better price. Even the mirror was just a piece of plastic and glass, no controls, no dimming (I knew I'd change this). Of course they tried to sell me accessories and extended warranties, but I said no to all. I financed at 1.9% for 36 months, so only paying a bit of interest over 3 years. I couldn't get the car any cheaper outside of looking elsewhere around the country. I did all of my negotiation over the phone via text (except for the last $500 I got off when I found out they were charging me for tint and paint protection when the car wasn't even tinted, nor did I live close by to take them up on their "protection"). I often buy the top model of car, but this time I had to opt for the Sport to get the MT, so I ended up with the 2.0T to get the most out of it. Right away, there were amenities I gave up, but not for long.

I'm trying to keep better records of everything I'm doing, including pictures, pricing, etc. I will share that as I post updates. I have done quite a bit thus far, so I will capture all of that next over the next day or so.

Bought car:
11/10/2018

Left the dealer with 25 miles on the odometer. Had 21 prior to my test drive. Tried to find one with as low miles as possible, but this was the only Still Night Pearl MT 2.0T in a 250 mile radius.

I took the front plate off as soon as I got it home. So much cleaner looking.
 

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#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
And finally, interior. Kid's seats installed.

11/11/2018
Removed dealer, model, and trim badges
 

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#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
11/15/2018
Tint done by Tint World - 2ply Ceramic IR film.
Rear 5%, Front 30%, Windshield 90%, Sunroof 90%
$547.74

11/18/2018
Installed LED High Beams
$44.99
 

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#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks!

:) Great idea!! I'm not done uploading updates and pics yet. There's a bunch more to come (even just finished something today), I just had to get some work done so I stopped. I will continue to update with what is currently done, and I think you'll be pleased! Thanks for following!

11/27/2018
Installed JDM rear emblem
$40.80
 

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#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
11/28/2018
Tinted rear bumper reflectors
$12.74

11/29/2018
Installed LED rear turn signals
$21.24
 

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#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
11/29/2018
Hard wired Valentine V1 Radar detector (owned from previous car), and installed with Mirror Mount Bracket
$32.89

pending pictures


11/30/2018
Tinted Headlight reflectors
$11.04
 

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#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Honda Part # 75701-TGH-A01

I bought mine from eBay during a flash sale.

You can remove the factory emblem a few ways. I used some trim removal tools and just broke it off. You can go a different route and remove the rear portion of the trunk it's attached to and get it more cleanly off. It is held on by two plastic posts and rivets on the other side. The new emblem is just held on by 3M tape that comes already attached.



11/29/2018 (from post #8)
Hard wired Valentine V1 Radar detector (owned from previous car), and installed with Mirror Mount Bracket.
$32.89

thought I could edit in pictures, I guess not. Here they are.
 

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#13 ·
12/3/2018
Installed Accord trunk carpet, LED reverse lights, and First Aid kit
Carpet: $69
LED Reverse Lights: $7.64
First Aid kit: $21.60
 

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#16 ·
Thanks so much. I tried it and messed it up. I think I was leaving too much excess towards the bottom. People have said to line the bottom up pretty exact and then the top can be tucked like you mentioned. I got another kit. I’m going to try again this weekend.
 
#17 ·
That's exactly how you want to do it. Line the bottom up, and you'll notice the top tucks in nicely. The most difficult area for me was getting the rear to line up perfectly. There was zero room for error since there wasn't any where to place excess material. Also, the very front near the mirror (it's an awkward place to start, and difficult to get it perfectly against the mirror and chrome trim). Take your time.
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Prese...ome-Trim-Delete-Blackout-Overlay/332814457591

Seller is mnp_customs in case that link gets disabled eventually. I ordered a few things from this seller, and they all came professionally packaged, and everything was high quality. I waited for an ebay flash sale to buy everything at 15% off. Not sure what brand the vinyl was, but it was the matte black option, not gloss black.



12/3/2018
Installed wheel locks, trunk handle, and cargo hooks.
Locks: $55
Handle: $5.73
Hooks: $16.80 (for 2)

12/16/2018
Installed LED interior lights (map, dome, trunk, visor)
LEDs: $58.05

Note: Wheel locks are Honda branded, as is the trunk handle and cargo hooks. The interior shots are in a garage. The interior LEDs make a HUGE difference, and I highly recommend them. I got them from CorsoMotion. I went with the 5K Pure White kit. Super easy to install, took all of 10 minutes.
 

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#22 ·
12/22/2018
Installed clear license plate cover
$7.85

12/27/2018
Installed new grille, black chrome insert, and JDM front emblem
Grill: $220
Insert: $36
Emblem: $60
 

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#24 ·
1/1/2019
Installed Ambient Lighting Kit, Illuminated door sills and rear sills, Heated Steering Wheel, HomeLink Mirror
Ambient: $90
Door Sills: $210
Wheel: $269
Mirror: $294.89
 

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#25 ·
1/6/2019
Installed side emblems
$36

Note: I ordered the black emblems (which is really dark gray around the outside, the same gray as the new grill from Honda). The inside of the emblem is chrome, and I really didn't want that on my car. So I decided to paint the chrome glossy black. I left the dark gray to keep it two tone. I think it turned out great, and keeps the aesthetics I'm going for. Let me know what you think.
 

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#26 ·
1/9/2018
Powdercoated rear exhaust finishers (Took this idea from Abe. Thanks Abe!)
$160

Note: Getting them off the car was simple. I just laid down and used a long socket for the two side screws, and a ratcheting wrench for the top screw. I couldn't get a great picture of the rear end since I was pulled into the garage and didn't feel like moving the car out. I will capture better pictures when I take some of the whole car.

That's all for now. I have some more plans and am just waiting for things to come in the mail at the end of the week. I'll continue to update. Hope you all enjoyed!
 

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#29 ·
1/12/2019
Installed new rear spoiler
$61.74

Note: Install was fairly easy. I removed the original spoiler, cleaned up the trunk and removed a few light scratches. The new spoiler had two mounting holes that didn't line up with anything existing, so I just covered up all the holes, and utilized the 3M tape on the spoiler to mount it. It's larger than the original, but lighter. With the tape, it is extremely sturdy, and I'm very confident it isn't going anywhere. I'm happy with the quality, and I chose black to match the rest of the black in the rear. I think the two tone looks nicer than another blue spoiler would have. It's definitely sporty looking, but not over the top by any means. Definitely sets the car apart. I bought it on eBay, and the name of the spoiler is JDM V Type.
 

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